Also being wooed are Hong Kong investors in the likes of Malaysian Robert Kuok and other players there.

The
Kuok group has diverse business interests as well as a significant
property division under Kerry Holdings Ltd that has projects in Hong
Kong, Macau, China and Australia.Aside from these, IWH is also wooing big funds in the United States such as BlackRock Inc and Franklin Templeton.

BlackRockis
a fund-management company based in New York with more than US$3
trillion (RM9.27 trillion) under management. Investment firm Franklin
Templeton is headquartered in California and has more than US$800bil
worth of assets under management.

The IWH IPO, slated for a
listing in the middle of 2013, is set to raise close to RM1bil. However,
some reports have indicated that the figure could be much higher.

Some
familiar names from the list of IHH Healthcare Bhd investors may
potentially emerge in IWH's listing as well, such as Vanguard Group Inc,
Bank of NY Melton Corp and Morgan Stanley.

Both the EPF and Khaznaha Nasional Bhd have indirect stakes in IWH, held via Iskandar Investmebt Bhd.

IWH's
vision is to create an international waterfront destination. It has
some 1,619ha in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor, which comprises three main
areas: Danga Bay, Johor Baru City Centre and Tebrau Coast.

IWH
is 60% owned by Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo via Credence Resources Sdn Bhd. The
Johor government, through Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor, holds the
remaining 40% stake. However, sources said that this structure could
change in the process of readying IWH for its mega listing.

IWH's
waterfront project will have a reported gross development value of
about RM80bil. When completed, Iskandar Waterfront will be a waterfront
city fronting Singapore.

Some sceptics are questioning the
attractiveness of IWH to investors on the basis that it is seen as a
“one-project real estate company”.

On the other hand, bankers
who are more bullish about the deal reckon that there are many reasons
investors would be keen to have a slice of IWH. These include IWH land's
proximity to land-starved Singapore and the high plot ratios that IWH
has in comparison to companies like UEM Land Holdings.